Last Wednesday I set out on my first trip to Europe that lasted about 6 days and returned me to the States on Monday evening. It was a mix of modes to get there, but eventually we got there. I traveled with my good friend Jonathan and we left from Chicago and flew to Frankfurt where we had a brief layover before we flew to Lyon, France. (The flight to from Frankfurt to Lyon takes you over the Alps and in a word, it's majestic) One oddity was that there was no customs check in Frankfurt, no forms to fill out, no questions, just a look at the passport and a stamp. Danke.

Once we got to Lyon, the real adventure began we needed to get on a bus from the airport to the train station to take us to the next town, problem is none of us speak French. Since someone let me borrow a phrasebook, I was designated as the translator for the trip, which later proved stressful. I began most of my sentences with "Parlevouz Angle?" or "Do you speak English?" - when I was saved it was magic, when I wasn't hilarity ensued. Luckily, many people spoke English even though in true French style, they still stared at me with discontent as I tried to speak their language. Lyon, which is one of the three major cities in France (Paris, Mason and Lyon), is known as the Food Capital of France, unfortunately since we were just passing through we weren't able to experience much of it. We essentially just took a bus through the city to our train that took us to the city of Macon. There were able to get our first taste of French dining. We made our way to a small creperie where it seemed only locales ate, there I practiced my French while townspeople stared and Jonathan helped by providing a laugh-track behind the whole interaction. Good thing God gave me fingers to point to what I wanted. From there on out, like a predator that senses a weakness, "my friend" made it his mission to get me to speak to as many people in French as possible...every pastry shop we passed he all of a sudden would NEED to have something. BUT, it gave me a good reason to practice...I got REAL good at asking if people spoke English.

After Macon, we hopped a bus to head to Taize, where we stayed a majority of our time. The experience in Taize is a completely different entry, but it was certainly a unique adventure. During our stay at Taize, we journeyed out to the close-by town of Cluny, where there is an Abbey that the town is built around. This Abbey was originally constructed in 910 AD and has a lot of history around it. From the later half of the 10th century through the mid-12th century, it was the grandest and most prestigious monastic institution in Europe. It contained a library that was the finest in France and arguably all of Europe. During revolutions in 1790, much of the Abbey was destroyed and many valuable manuscripts and archives were lost. It was really interesting to be in a town with such rich history.

While visiting Cluny, we enjoyed a great lunch and walked up the street to a wine shop where upon my poor attempt at speaking with the shop owner resulted in her telling me that she was American. Alice, had been living in France for more than 20 years and for the majority has been running the wine store. She helped us pick out some good choices and after we asked her where we might buy a US-to-France plug converter offered to drive us to the local hardware shop. She was so nice and was really indicative of the type of people we met along the way. Although the French can be sticklers for their love of their language (and rightfully so, it's beautiful) I found that they were very welcoming and generous people. Kind of the opposite of the American stereotype. Perhaps I just got lucky or maybe I didn't take it personally, but I found the people I met there to be quite friendly.

After seeing the rural side of France for a while, we took a train to Dijon - where we got some mustard, and the caught a TGV to Paris, which I'll write more about later...

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